Mark Kennedy to Fill AP Theater Critic Post

The Associated Press has hired Mark Kennedy, late of Aol News, to be its new theater critic. Kennedy fills the post last occupied by Michael Kuchwara, who passed away last May. Kennedy previously worked for the AP and covered a number of beats and major stories. He reported on 9/11, from the field in Afghanistan in 2003 and covered Hurricane Katrina.

Kennedy had only been with Aol since March. Variety notes that the position he has returned to the AP to fill is a prominent one:

The AP’s theater writer is considered among the most prominent legit journos in the country, with the scribe’s copy printed in papers around the world. The position has recently gained an even heftier national profile thanks to a turbulent journalism landscape that has seen many papers cut their own culture writers and replace their arts coverage with stories from wire services, particularly the AP.